Experiment 0608 - Project: Wyvern
by VagabondSix
Summary: Project: Wyvern, the Space Pirates' hand-crafted magnum opus of a bioweapon. Highly intelligent, powerful, and efficient. What will happen when Samus invades the research frigate this creature is being held on? Take place before Metroid Prime I. Rated T for language, light gore and violence so far.
1. Introduction

A symphony of sound reaches my ears, all too familiar and infuriating. It is the infernal sound of my own personal hell: _clicking, beeping, bubbling, chattering, tapping_, _growling and mumbling_. Either fortunately, or not, I can't decide, I'm awake. Near consistent exposure to the damned stasis liquid allowed my body to build up an almost immunity to it. Instead of rendering me completely comatose, it simply keeps me hovering on the edge of the abyss, a place between conscious and unconscious. The stupid crab-like insects, the Space Pirates, are both intelligent and stupid, however. They're capable of brilliant feats, yet they're do not of recognize me being conscious… so long as I do not think too hard and stay relaxed, at least.

They've let me out before. Oh, yes. Infrequently and rarely for anything I enjoy. I am dumped out of this hellish tank to first be poked and prodded at by scores of them and then to complete menial tasks. "Solve this puzzle," they click. "Run this course," they hiss. "Defeat this drone," they rasp. And after I am done leaping through their hoops, I am stuffed back in the tank and am left to the whims of my own psyche until I am pulled out to do it all again. I can remember nothing else. Only tank, puzzles, test, fight, test, tank. I've given up trying to fight them.

I've been here for what feels like eras. Listening to them mutter about projects and experiments. _Metroids, Lord Ridley, High Command. _Bullshit I couldn't care less about. Sometimes they hiss and click about 'the huntress', whoever that is. I listen to those conversations, they tend to be at least a little humorous; and I have to get a chuckle somewhere. But, I pay special attention when I hear the phrase _"Project Wyvern." _Here's what I know about that project. It's been ongoing for 2.3 decacycles. It's DNA being primarily human, was infused with that of zebesian, space dragon, and Metroid. This altered DNA strand was placed into an egg cell and grown in a lab. This subject came into existence 1.8 decacycles ago, the only successful subject. A female hybrid showing advanced dexterity and intelligence. It has several cybernetic enhancements, mainly to increase learning and adaptive capabilities as well as immune response to optimal efficiency.

I cling to this knowledge because, from what I understand, _"Project Wyvern"_ is me.

**a/n: Tiny little O/C story that I'm writing off and on. This is the introductory chapter so the rest of them probably wont be as monologue-y. **


	2. The Huntress Meets the Hybrid

A screaming siren tore through the air on the lone Pirate Frigate. The huntress had landed on the ship and was easily slaughtering the pirate troops thrown at her. As she made her way through the ship, she noticed that the pirates were becoming more desperate. The wounded who would normally be retreating to lick their wounds kept fighting and when they ran out of ammo, they resorted to albeit clumsy close combat. Nevertheless, she killed them all, as always, and continued to the heart of the ship, slowly making her way down the long hallway.

She was surprised, however, when the door at the end of the hall opened. Scans indicated that the text on the wall read research lab. Three pirates stormed out, but instead of the normal lean muscular forms of the troopers, these pirates were thin; almost sickly so, with little muscular mass to speak of. They carried their weapons instead of them being welded into their limbs and pointed them at Samus. They did not fire immediately but instead, one spoke to her in their hissing, clicking language.

_"We do not wish to fight, huntress. Turn back now, and you will remain unharmed."_

Samus, curious about this new development, did not fire, but charged a plasma shot.

Alarmed, it spoke again, now a bit more panicked. _"Please, we do not wish to fight! We are but scientists! Researchers! We only conduct experiments! Leave this place! There is no one for you to fight here!" _

Samus fired, striking the lead scientist in the chest, killing him instantly. The excess plasma struck his companions causing them to scream in pain before she fired two more shots striking them in the face. She continued to the door, charging a shot as she went.

Prepared for a few space pirates as she walked through the door, she narrowly dodged a plasma cannon blast from another scientist as soon as she walked through the door. It hissed at her angrily and fired again this time landing a glancing blow that made Samus stagger.

_"I knew there was no reasoning with you!" _it screeched. _"I warned them! Well you're not killing me!" _It chuckled ominously. Pressing a button on the console, the tank in the back of the room split open. Green fluid flowed out and down a drain on the floor, a lean figure slipping out with it. It lied limply for a moment, soaked in the liquid, before beginning to stir

Meanwhile, the scientist had abandoned his rifle for a faster wave pistol, firing rapidly upon Samus in her distraction. She dodged behind a counter. The pirate continued to fire as he turned to the figure on the floor and hissed a command to it.

_"Stand, Wyvern! The purpose for your existence, it is time to fulfill it! Strike down the huntress!"_

The figure moved into a crouch. It was naked and human shaped with dark skin and dark hair, almost deep violet cascading down its back. It would seem vulnerable if not for the wicked, whip-like tail ending in a razor-sharp, arrowhead point and the sharp claws decorating its fingers. It shook its draconic wings and raised its head to peer warily around the room, revealing a narrow feminine face. It stared at the scientist with orange eyes not unlike his own. It flicked over his form, taking interest in the pistol clutched in his claws, before dismissing him in favor of looking at the counter where Samus was crouched behind. A chill ran down its spine and it shook its body, sending excess fluid flying off its skin. The scientist yelled this time, pointing at Samus with his free claw.

_"What are you doing?! Attack the huntress, now, hybrid!" he commanded._

What Wyvern did next surprised both the scientist and Samus. She narrowed her eyes into a glare and snarled at the insectoid alien, showing off alligator-esque teeth. Before he could react, she raised her scaled tail and skewered his head with its arrowhead tip. He dropped the wave pistol and his mouth dropped open, making gurgling noises before he fell limp. With a jerk, the tail was removed from his skull and shaken to remove the dripping blood. Keeping her gaze locked on Samus, who was now standing with a charged shot at the ready, she slowly stood and walked to where the scientist now lay oozing on the floor.

Samus watched carefully as the hybrid nudged the corpse with a clawed foot before lowering her gaze momentarily to try to remove the scientists bloodied lab coat. It was then that Samus noticed that the hybrid was trembling. When she managed to tug the lab coat free Wyvern, continued to stare unblinkingly at the hunter as she wrapped it around herself in hopes of alleviating some of the cold. Her gaze flickered to Samus's still charged shot calculatingly. She lunged towards Samus, her tail pulled back like a scorpion's. Samus fired, causing the hybrid to scramble back to avoid it, hissing like a serpent. The hybrid bounded over counters before pausing on one as far away from the orange-clad hunter as possible. She was glaring now. But, what surprised Samus the most was when she spoke clearly in rough Federation mother tongue. "I don't know what kind of creature you are," she hissed. "But, you will let me pass."

At that moment, the ceiling was torn open and the fearsome space pirate commander, Ridley, swooped into the room.


	3. The Dragon, the Wyvern, and the Huntress

Wyvern's first instinct was to flee. Another part of her rebutted that. Where could she run? The beast filled up half the room. It was currently preoccupied with whatever the orange clad creature was, but common sense told her the the large reptile would devour it quickly. It was unlike any other creature she'd been exposed to. But, it was familiar. Its wings... It's tail... They were hers.

The orange creature seemed to forget her as well, turning to point its weapon at the beast. They stared each other down, seemingly completely oblivious to the hybrid's presence. The violet beast spoke first, a mocking, decidedly male tenor that brought chills down Wyvern's spine. She didn't understand it at first, but something in her mind clicked, and she knew his language as if it were her first.

"Aran," he growled. "What brings you aboard my frigate? Are you so hungry for death that you seek me out?"

The strange orange creature seemed to understand, as well. 'Perhaps they are of similar origin?' thought Wyvern.

"This ship is in Federation territory," the orange creature growled back, although in a huskier, higher tone. It was calming, but sounded like it was holding something back. The orange beast, despite their earlier altercation, seemed like the friendlier of the two. Wyvern began to edge slowly toward it.

"So it is," the dragon quipped back. He seemed smug. "This isn't a particularly important vessel. I would not be here if not to secure the safety of one our more important experiments. Speaking of which," the dragon turned its head slightly, peering back at her with a massive acid colored eye.

She flinched and pulled her wings and tail around her self, staring back at the violet beast in mute terror. She felt crushed under the wait of his gaze. "Hybrid. Come nearer." She took a step back. It turned itself fully toward her, anger now filling its eyes. It was at this moment the other creature took the opportunity to open fire at the beasts now exposed back. The resulting roar the beast released was enough to send Wyvern scrambling away. She hid behind the nearest counter as the two others clashed.

**a/n: So, this episode was just talking and taking a sneak peek at what Ridley and Samus look like from Wyvern's perspective. This was a bit difficult to write. I felt like there needed to be some sort of pre-battle talk. The problem is that I don't know how to write Space Dragon and there's very little of Samus's dialogue to go by for working out a solid speech style for her. But, I think after this fight and I start getting into the groove of things the chapters will start getting longer. Tell me how you think I did.**


	4. Of Dragon Slaying and Daring Escapes

**a/n: Sorry for the wait.**

* * *

Wyvern was dazzled by the display the two put on. It wasn't as if she couldn't fight, because, oh, could she fight. But, the orange cyborg being and the violet winged reptilian were on a completely different level. Their battle was almost scripted in its perfection.

The reptilian would roar out fire, but, the cyborg was already far out of range.

The cyborg shot its energy bolts from its arm and the reptilian would block with his wings.

_Swipe. Dodge. Shoot. Block. Charge. Counter. _

Oh, yes. Wyvern was mesmerized. But, not stupid.

Neither of the two beings were her allies. At least, she didn't think so. The violet one was affiliated with the Space Pirates and the orange one threatened her with the beam. And, looking at the battle raging just overhead, it was clear the beam wasn't anything she wanted to get hit with. She needed to make her escape as the battle raged.

There were two obvious exits. The first was the door to the rest of the ship. It was closed and opening it would likely attract attention. _I do not even know if it will open at all, _thought Wyvern. She looked up. Above her was her second escape route. The whole the fearsome violet one entered through. If she could get through it she would be on the upper deck of the frigate. The problem, however, was getting to it without being spotted by either creature. She would have to fly to get anywhere near it. Her wings would normally carry her through it in seconds. She wriggled them. Unfortunately, they were still numb; a temporary side effect of being suspended in the stasis liquid. They would do, but flight would be sluggish and awkward. _Too slow. I'll be caught in an instant. _

The hybrid pressed her body close to the floor and slid towards the door. Slipping from behind counters and tables, she gave the combatants a wide berth as their battle raged on.

* * *

Samus leapt away from Ridley's gaping maw each time he tried to scream fire at her. Her scanners were trying to locate the humanoid being that had disappeared once she engaged the space dragon. Judging from the short interaction she had seen it have with the Space Pirate commander, it wasn't working with Ridley, but that didn't mean it wasn't hostile. Her visor flashed two alerts at once. The humanoid was behind her rapidly moving away and-!

Samus leapt to her left and narrowly avoided being speared by Ridley's arrowhead tail. She hissed in pain. It had grazed her side. There'd be a nasty bruise there, but no real damage was done other than a dent in the suit's side.

Ridley followed up his glancing blow with another stream of fire. That was Samus's opening. Instead of dodging and landing in one of his claws as he was expecting, Samus charged head first to Ridley's face, charged plasma shot at the ready. She shoved her arm canon into his mouth and before he could properly react, shot a huge ball of superheated plasma into his throat. Ridley screeched in agony and Samus pulled back before he could snap his fangs down on her arm.

"_Aran!" _he roared, his voice barely intelligible. He was bleeding heavily, nearly black blue blood gushing from past his teeth and out of the hole in his throat. His tongue lolled out slightly as his wings beat furiously. _"I'll rip eyes from your head for that!" _

Samus didn't respond. She laid out suppressing fire, hammering his face and torso with plasma shots. Ridley screamed again, his left eye a bloody mess and his body littered with slash like burns. He made one last charge at the huntress who charged up another shot. Before they could meet however, he swooped up suddenly, and disappeared through the hole he entered through, spitting curses as he disappeared from view.

The huntress stared up after him before turning towards the now damaged laboratory door. Her scans indicated the hybrid was still onboard the frigate. Judging from the state of the door, it could not be opened and the creature instead tore open a hole through the metal door and crawled out. There was a small amount of dark blue blood at the edges of the hole and a few drops down the hallway. Samus considered this for a moment before assuming morph ball form and rolling out of the room, following the light trail of blood.

* * *

Wyvern crept through the frigate as silently as possible, occasionally stepping over fallen corpses as she went. Suddenly, she stopped, listening intently. When she escaped the laboratory, the sounds of battle still rung throughout the frigate. Roaring and clashing and cursing and screaming had filled the entire frigate. Now, it was silent again. She could hear nothing but the whirring of the ships components, the hissing of the ventilation system, and her own sharp breaths. The battle was over.

Wyvern began moving. Tightly securing the lab coat, now streaked with blood from her fingertips, she dashed through the halls. She didn't know where she was going exactly, but she kept moving, hoping for an exit.

She didn't know the battle's outcome. At best, she hoped both creatures destroyed each other. At worst, whoever won was now pursuing her. She hoped it was the orange cyborg in that case. The reptilian would likely destroy her in an instant; the cyborg might be beatable.

The hybrid turned a corner and paused to rest. She nursed her scratched hands. In her desperation to escape she ripped and scratched at the locked door until she managed to make a hole to squeeze through. As a result, her fingertips were bleeding where claw met flesh and her sides were scratched where she had forced her way through. She breathed heavily as she watched her augmented immune system work its magic. Her fingers tingled as she felt the nano-machines in her blood stitch the tiny wounds closed. She examined her side, tiny clear scales were now covering the scratches there. She released a quiet sigh.

Immediately, she stiffened. _What's that noise?!_ It sounded like…_Rolling? _Her brows furrowed. _The reptile wouldn't move like that. It stomped around… The cyborg? No. It was bipedal. _

Before the experiment had time to react, there was an orange metallic orb in front of her. She stared at it. It didn't move. The orb was about a meter wide with glowing green streaks on its … surface. Wyvern watched it carefully, it seemed relatively benign. It made no further move towards her. Hesitantly, she shifted down into a crouch to examine it. It was the same color as the cyborg, but much smaller. _Perhaps a drone? I don't see any defensive or offensive weaponry on it. _

Curiously, she reached out to touch it. It didn't respond. She could feel energy, pure and simple, pulse under its cold metal surface. The thought of energy made her stomach twinge with a foreign feeling but, she pushed it down. She nudged it to get it rolling but it wouldn't budge.

After a moments deliberation, she picked it up. It was awkward and clunky but she didn't know if there were any more Space Pirates on the ship. In a pinch, it was light enough to carry and looked sturdy enough to use as a shield or throw as a projectile in a pinch.

It didn't make any sort of protest. _It doesn't seem sentient…_

She stood to her full height and continued along through the frigate.

* * *

When she found the creature, Samus was going to drop a bomb and shift out of her morph ball to finish the job if that didn't kill it. But its expression stopped her. The mixture of shock and fear on its human like face stopped her. It didn't attack her, but instead simply stood there staring at her morph ball form. She thought back to the way it resented the Space Pirates enough to kill the scientist and how it cringed away from Ridley in fear. It spoke as well. Its main priority seemed to be escaping not attacking.

Samus decided to watch what it decided to do.

She didn't move when it crouched down.

She didn't move when it touched her, although she was significantly more tense.

It tried to roll her and she stayed in place.

It watched her again with a look of child-like curiosity. Its nose, covered in tiny scales wrinkled slightly as it regarded her with an eyebrow raised. Its curiosity made Samus curious as well.

Therefore, when the strange humanoid creature picked her up, Samus squashed the urge to come out of morph ball form and attack and allowed herself to be carried down the frigate hall.

* * *

**a/n: Pew pew! I still don't know how to write fight scenes! Pew pew! So, Samus and Wyvern interact for pretty much the first time without trying to assault each other and it's kind of weird. Imagine Wyvern wearing a labcoat backwards (how else would she wear it? she has _wings. _it'd be pretty hard to wear a coat normally with those in the way) and carrying this huge orange ball around because she thinks it'll be useful. That's essentially what's happening. **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Criticism is very much appreciated!**


	5. Hungry, Hungry, Wyvern!

**I keep forgetting to say I don't own Metroid but, I think that much should be obvious.**

* * *

Wyvern had never been more uncomfortable in her entire life and she'd only really escaped a few minutes ago. The strange metal energy orb was weighing heavily in her arms, the lab coat which was keeping her somewhat warm was rubbing abrasively against her front torso and her bare feet were aching from walking on the cold metal floors of the frigate.

Not to mention the curious aching feeling in her gut had now transformed into a borderline burning sensation; that was the most irritating. In all her time alive she had never felt this. She couldn't even put a name to it. She glanced down to the orb, narrowing her eyes. _The feeling gets worse whenever I look at it. Perhaps it's this… this orb's doing? _

She peered cautiously out of the windows that lined the walls of the room she was now in. It was round and tall with several computers and seats lining the walls and a large table in the center that was flashing lights. She padded over to the table, intrigued. Some sort of monitor made up the entire upper surface of the table with no visible buttons or dials. She adjusted the orange sphere so that it was supported by both her hand and the edge of the table and pressed her palm to the monitor. The monitor glowed brighter before a huge hologram filled stars and planets and all manner of objects engulfed almost the entire room. She lifted her arrow-tipped fifth appendage and used it to tap a glowing yellow blip in the holographic sea of green. The image pulsed and zoomed in on the object, some sort of ship. Upon closer inspection, the hybrid could see the ship was divided into several sectors as well as several pods leaving the ship. There was also a smaller ship docked in the first sector. Clearly, Wyvern had wandered into some sort of observation deck.

Suddenly, her stomach contorted in another, more intense wash of pain and she was hyper aware of all of the energy in the room. The whole room was filled with lifeless electrical energy from the hologram, but the orb pulsed with a more lively, calm sort of vitality. She set it gently on the floor. She stepped backwards away from it, stretching her arms as she did. The pangs didn't subside, which contested her previous theory but she was still wary of it. It didn't react when she set it down and backed away, reaffirming her suspicions that it was not sentient. And then, she realized something. _This orb is the same color as the cyborg. Perhaps it's a drone whose goal was to drain my energy? That would explain it… _

Another wave a pain, more agonizing than before, coursed through her abdomen and a new part of her spoke in time with it. It was quiet, no more than a whisper. She tried not to focus on it, but the more she ignored it the louder it became until it was almost deafening and the pains became unbearable. The observatory, which before was merely cool, now felt positively frigid. The hybrid shivered as the voice became louder. It was clear but Wyvern couldn't understand it. With a groan, she fell to her knees clutching her stomach. _What..?_ In a primal hissing voice, it gave her a simple command. Without words it muttered, _**Food. Energy. Eat.**_ She blinked as these words echoed in her head, deeply disturbed then grimaced as the voice began chanting the same three words, over and over; she was getting angry now. Her bladed tail lashed back and forth. She was going to snap back at the voice aloud, to ask what it was talking about, but instead was overcome by another wave of pain and shudders and released a wave of expletives.

Wyvern closed her eyes and placed her forehead against the icy silver floor, releasing short sharp breaths; the pain was maddening. An unexpected sound rang through the room over the low din of the voice chanting and the hologram humming. It was a combination of a clash and a sizzle. And then, there was quiet even clanking gradually moving closer, footsteps. Wyvern's tale lashed back and forth wilder now, panicked. She couldn't move. She was going to be recaptured if she didn't get away, but she couldn't move. She struggled to regain her breath and curled her tail up in a threatening arc towards the sound. She forced her feet under her and lifted her head to shoot a menacing look at whatever dared approach. To her surprise, it was the orange cyborg leveling its cannon arm at her tail; she was sure it would have lost the battle with the purple beast. She bared her shark teeth and glared, a deep growl emanating from her chest. The deep violet scales that made a trail down her spine raised themselves, becoming a row of short sharp spikes along the curve of her arched back. "Go. Away," the hybrid gritted out.

Without waiting for a reaction to her threat, Wyvern struck with her tail, like a scorpion.

The orange creature fired a missile in response. It hit the arrow-tip of Wyvern's tail head on, exploding on impact.

Wyvern released an agonized scream in response as her own royal blue blood dripped to the floor. She scrambled around to the opposite side of the hologram table, now absolutely horrified at the cyborg's knowledge of her weak points. She might have made it to cover if not for a streak of warm energy wrapping around her now damaged tail-blade. Her hands scrambled for purchase as she was dragged back but with her panicked flailing attempts, her claws couldn't pierce the hard metal floor. She looked back and saw a golden stream of light connecting her tail with the cyborg's arm, pulling her closer to it. She flinched as the orange being's glowing green visor flashed.

* * *

Despite all its flailing, the hybrid ended up at Samus's feet and was now cowering, its body curled in a fetal position and its wings wrapped around itself like shields. It suddenly stiffened and its previously thrashing tail relaxed in the grapple beam's grip. _Strange, _thought Samus. Suddenly, an alert flashed up on her visor, an energy tank had been emptied and another was at fifty percent capacity and rapidly decreasing. She gasped at the draining feeling. It was so familiar. She released the grapple beam immediately and the hybrid's tail fell limply to the floor, the long bleeding crack that marred the blade before was rapidly disappearing, but as it sealed itself, Samus noticed a thin rod like structure embedded in it. She narrowed her eyes. Keeping a careful eye on the hybrid itself, Samus snatched up its tail, careful not to touch the blade, she made sure the tail couldn't stab her. Her touch caused the creature to protest violently, thrashing and hissing at her. Samus stomped down, pinning the creature's wing and one of its hands to the floor and forcing it to lay on its side. She trained her cannon at its head. It was cowed instantly, taking short rapid breaths and peering up at her with a weak fearful glare.

The armor clad bounty hunter trained her scanners on the dagger-tipped tail. The crack left by the missile was already healed but she simply switched to her visor's x-ray capabilities. She could easily see a thin tube traveling through it glowing with what she presumed was her stolen energy reserves. The tube appeared to travel the length of the tail, but that's not what she was looking for. She followed the rod to the tip of the tail, there, embedded in the arrow's very tip, was a tiny fang, reminiscent of a metroid's mandible. The fang was tiny at the tip, like a hypodermic needle and tiny tendons and muscles were attached to its base, presumably to allow it to emerge from the tip of the tail and be pulled back in. She had her scans file this tidbit of information away and looked back down at the hybrid on the floor.

The fear on its face was now replaced with annoyance and a look of discomfort. It seemed to recognize that it had her attention and huffed up at her.

"Are you quite finished?" it drawled sarcastically. _It sounds vaguely feminine, _noted Samus. It squirmed under her armored foot. "Can you understand?! Release me!" It snarled, flashing its teeth. Samus regarded it carefully, but made no move to let it go.

"Intelligent," quipped Samus to herself. The hybrid snorted. "What is your name?"

It rolled its eyes, but when Samus put more pressure on its wing it snapped out, "Experiment 0608. Codename: Project Wyvern. Now, release me, cyborg!"

Samus regarded it carefully. "If I release you, you cannot flee or attack. Do you understand?" she intoned monotonously. It narrowed its eyes at her, as if considering her words.

"You… are not a Space Pirate, yes?"

"I am a free-lance bounty hunter. Currently affiliated with the Galactic Federation?"

"…Not a Space Pirate?"

"No."

The hybrid seemed to visibly relax at this information. "I want to leave here. I do not wish to stay. I will not harm you if you release me, cyborg."

Samus did not respond. The hybrid spoke again, desperate now. "I wish to leave this frigate. Allow me to leave."

"I can't. You are not registered as any recognized species in the Federation database," replied Samus. Gesturing to the hybrid's wings, she continued, "and you appear to have the DNA of several dangerous species."

"I have done nothing!" the creature snapped. "I haven't left this place in my entire existence! I haven't harmed anything!"

"You attacked _me,_" Samus said pointedly.

"You attacked first! I merely defended myself, cyborg! If anyone's a threat it's you! You and that purple… purple dragon thing!"

That set off a spark of anger in Samus. "Enough," she snapped, her gun arm now pointed steadily at the hybrids chest. Its mouth shut with a click of teeth and it flinched. "Tell me what you know about Ridley's location."

The hybrid looked fearful and confused. "…What?"

"The space dragon. Ridley. Commander of the Space Pirates," barked Samus, her patience dwindling quickly.

"The purple thing? Nothing!" Samus's cannon began to glow and Wyvern thrashed violently underfoot. Panicked now, she continued, borderline screaming with terror. "I don't know anything! Why would I lie about that? I don't even like the Space Pirates."

"_Well, that's quite a shame, experiment," _hissed a malevolent voice. _"Because we'll be spending quite a lot of time together in the future, methinks. _

The floor beneath Samus and Wyvern, was ripped open and once again, the fearsome space dragon Ridley appeared, grinning viciously.

* * *

**a/n: Boss fight time. God, I feel so cliche. But, there's actually a bit of dialogue for once, so there's that, I suppose. I got a review suggested that I add more detail to scenes so I'd appreciate if you'd tell me if I accomplished that. Thanks for that review, by the way, Spiderman. Anyway, thank you for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think; criticism is welcome. **


	6. Team Up! The Huntress and the Hybrid

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Innumerable Space Pirates poured into the observation deck from the huge tear in the floor. Suddenly, Samus and Wyvern found themselves faced with the formidable Space Pirate commander and a small army. The crab-like soldiers clicked and hissed menacingly raising their weapons at the bounty hunter and the experiment. Samus raised her canon in turn as Wyvern attempted to twist underneath the metal clad foot pinning her to peer back at her former captors.

Ridley spoke, his voice easily thundering over the dull roar of his subordinates as he hovered overhead. _"Ah, Aran,"_ he purred. _"Thank you for securing such a valuable piece of tech for us."_ Wyvern released an indignant snarl at this. He chuckled, baring his teeth back at the hybrid. "_She's like my very own fledgling. Perhaps I'll allow you to leave this place for her return." _

The hybrid jerked under Samus's foot, a baleful scowl now trained up at the bounty hunter. Samus stared back down at her for a moment before glaring back at Ridley, her visor now glowing brighter. The space dragon glowered back.

They stayed like this for just a moment, the three of them all waiting for the tension to break as Ridley's small army snapped and sneered with mindless bloodlust.

Suddenly, Ridley lunged for the two, having grown tired of the wait. Samus reacted instantly, firing super-heated glowing plasma straight at Ridley's gaping maw, before grabbing the hybrid's tail, dragging her along as she dodged to the side. They were allowed a brief reprieve as Ridley screamed in pain clutching his throat. Samus trained her cannon at the fearsome dragon as Wyvern pushed herself to her feet, panting. Wyvern glanced at Samus, watching her carefully for a moment, before saying, "Much thanks." Samus offered her a curt nod.

The Space Pirates surged forward as their leader released a screeching war cry and took to the air again, preparing to dive bomb the duo. They both dodged in opposite directions, Samus shooting a missile at the dragon's face and Wyvern gliding away to put as much distance as possible between herself and Ridley. Snarling in rage, he pursued Samus, screaming fire at the hunter as his claws scraped at the floor.

The Pirates, numbering at least twenty, all focused on recapturing Wyvern who was using her superior speed and dexterity to her advantage as she bounded around their attempts to stun her with weapons and slipped away from the occasional grapple. She slashed with her claws, and stabbed with her spear point tail, easily beating them down. The pirates were surprised as what they expected to be a simple capture turned into a slaughter as Wyvern managed to avoid most of their attacks and strike them down in turn.

Meanwhile, Samus was having some difficulty driving off Ridley, who seemed to be more on point than usual, dodging her beam and missile strikes before she could even fire them and blocking all her attempts to dodge his attacks.

She grunted as he raked his long claws along her side, sending her stumbling back, slamming into the cold steel wall. He slammed his hand into her torso, pinning her there as he leaned his face close to her own. He laughed and his breath fogged up her visor. It was then, with the dragon staring her straight in the eye, Samus noticed the faint robotic red glow in his left eye. She attempted to aim her cannon at him again, but, he merely used his claws to spear through the beam cannon and subsequently, her arm. Samus screamed in pain and her visor flashed an alert. _Arm Cannon: Offline._ She felt her own blood ooze stickily down her limb and flow between her fingers. The bounty hunter hissed with a sickening squish as the dragon removed his claws, jostling her now broken arm in the process. _"Such a pity,"_ he hummed, clearly pleased with himself. _"A simple visual augmentation and the great Samus Aran is reduced to nothing more than simpering child."_ He chuckled. _"Pathetic."_

He slammed her against the wall again and again, laughing all the while. As Samus's vision began to blur and blood dribbled down the back of her neck, Ridley suddenly released a scream and dropped her, just as her consciousness was beginning to fade. She fell to the floor with a heavy thud, attempting to regain her wits. Ridley released a thundering howl, now thoroughly distracted and enraged.

A sound more akin to an angry scream than a menacing roar echoed back in response. Samus saw, standing amidst a spattering of green blood and Space Pirate corpses, the blurry form of the experiment glaring heatedly up at Ridley. She was standing on the balls of her feet, slightly hunched forward with her hands curled into fists at her sides, her wings fully extended behind her and a snarl curling her lips. Her tail, curled around in front of her, shined with blood as gore dripped from its tip. The formerly pristine lab coat was now hanging limply in burned tatters and she had a pirate's rifle, doubtlessly cruelly ripped from its position welded to its previous owner's claws, hanging between her rings by a strap. She was covered head to toe in the blood of a score of pirates.

Ridley snarled at her, one hand cradling a bleeding gash in his side and the other covering his now heavily damaged robotic optic. His good eye widened in surprise before narrowing into a golden glowing slit. _"You dare?!" _he spat.

She hissed in return, crouching forward on all fours, arching her back and flapping her wings hard once. "I do," she snapped back.

Ridley growled and lunged at her. She darted forward, slipping underneath him easily. As she passed, she used the cruel dagger tipping her tail to rip open a new tear in his stomach and drain away some of his energy. As the dragon howled, writhing in pain and clutching at his guts as they oozed from the deep wound, Wyvern made her way to the bounty hunters side.

Samus stared back as Wyvern's gaze swept calculatingly over her damaged power suit. They locked eyes, wary blue-green meeting guarded gold-orange. The moment was ruined, however, when Ridley pushed himself to his feet, his single undamaged eye trained furiously at the duo. Wyvern whirled around teeth bared and rifle set to plasma and charging, trained directly at Ridley's face. Samus forced herself to her feet, prepared to lunge out of harm's way when the time came. Wyvern's eyes flickered back to the bounty hunter for a mere second before returning her gaze back to Ridley.

The two, dragon and, in a twisted sense, his progeny stood at a standoff. Both were panting hard. Wyvern's tongue slipped out and ran over her lips, swiping a drop of her own blue blood, so similar to Ridley's own, that had dribbled down from her nose; panting, she refused to break eye contact. Ridley watched her for a moment longer, before releasing a sinister chuckle that erupted into a full-blown maniacal cackle. His laugh cut off abruptly as he glared at Wyvern again, now with an air of amused arrogance coming off him in waves.

"_Well, well, well."_ He snickered_. "How unexpected. To think a mere child, a fledgling, could hold its own against me. Tell me, brat, do you know who I am? What I am to you?"_

"…"

"_Around forty percent of your DNA came from me, do you know what that means?" _he purred.

Wyvern still refused to speak, choosing instead extend her tail in front of herself, dagger tip poised to strike. Samus watched this interaction between the Space Pirate commander and the thin hybrid, silently, but opted not to interfere. She grimaced as her suit injected a needle into her broken arm; a numbing agent to temporarily inhibit any pain.

"_Of course you do. You are quite the intelligent child, after all, no? After so many failures, to think the only success would be such a perfect creature." _

He gently reached towards Wyvern's tail as if to stroke it. With a hiss, she slapped it away the flat of the blade. He laughed again.

"_I like you, fledgling."_ He spread his wings with a curt laugh. "_We will meet again soon,"_ he promised. He leapt into the air and, with a twist and a stream of fire, dived through the thick glass of the observation deck walls and disappeared from sight.

Wyvern watched the place where Ridley disappeared, eyes wide and alert, until she felt something rest on her shoulder. She whirled around, prepared to face another pirate or monster, and was met with the glowing green visor of the bounty hunter, no sign of the eyes she had previously seen past it. She watched Samus warily for a moment, noting the way the hunter had her palms out to show she meant no harm and the seemingly heavily damaged weapon arm hanging limply at her side. After a few seconds deliberation, Wyvern lowered the rifle and took a cautious step back. She placed the rifle on the floor and kicked it away. She raised both her hands, mimicking Samus's gesture.

Samus regarded the hybrid carefully before gesturing to herself. "Samus Aran." She extended her hand.

Wyvern blinked at the hand before reaching out unsurely, to grasp it. "Wyvern," she said simply.

Samus shook her hand and nodded. "I have a ship. Follow me." She walked away.

Wyvern cocked her head, peering at the huntress's retreating back hesitantly. Within moments, she shadowed Samus, deciding that following the strange orange clad being was the safest option.

* * *

**a/n: Geh, writing fight scenes is hard. Despite what he said, that should be the last of Ridley for a bit. Also, hooray, Samus and Wyvern are a step closer to being buddies. I'm so happy about that you have no idea how difficult it is to write two people who supposedly dislike each other a lot help each other out in battle without making it seem...weird. Or maybe you do. Whatever.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading! Reviews and critiques are very much appreciated!**


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